32 Before 32 Recap

Last year, I posted my 32 Before 32 list.  I was so ambitious in my youth.  :o)

Tasks Completed:

• Get rid of all my pre-op and other clothes that no longer fit 

• Attend my second Virginia Tech Hokie football game (went to 1 my freshman year and never went back)

• Organize the office…not just piles of junk

• Begin decluttering the house. (27 fling boogie
 anyone?) 

•  Participate in “team jersey” day at work – finally! 

• Wear SS’s clothes like “normal” girls do

• Try something I’ve never done before

• Purchase actual running shoes in order to complete #2. 

• Try Mellow Mushroom.

• Make Buckeye Bars and give them away 

• Attend a festival (German American, Greek, Polish, WHATEVER) or fair (county or otherwise)

• Successfully navigate a corn maze

• Do 3 kinds things for others for no reason

13 out of 32.  Talk about depressing.  That being said a lot has happened in the last year.  Things I didn't know where goals/tasks.  The main one is The Wombat.  I considered doing another list for 33, but I figure the next year is going to be all about survival, re-losing the weight I've gained with the Wombat, and adjusting our lives to include the little man.  That ought to be enough upheaval in my life for a year.

I'm going to try really hard NOT to make this blog into a Mommy blog, but The Wombat is going to creep in here.  I just know it.  I foresee a lot of discussion on refocusing my WLS goals and how I fend off my neuroticness when it comes to my son and his food.  I don't need to count his calories, right?

10 weeks to go until our lives get turned upside down.  I NEED MORE TIME!

#9 - Attend my second Virginia Tech Hokie football game

Yesterday, I shared a little about my fear of attending my second Virginia Tech football game.  Today, the day after, I can say it is an experience I won't soon forget.

Highlights

• The ACC FanFest was a lot of fun.  SS and I didn't spend a lot of time at FanFest, but we walked around for a while and enjoyed visiting all the booths.  

• We met a lot of neat Hokie fans...and a couple nice Clemson fans.

• Virginia Tech started the jumping to Enter Sandman tradition after we graduated (darnit!).  Last night, I finally got to experience jumping with my fellow Hokies during Enter Sandman.  It was exhilarating!  Below is my Enter Sandman video...

Here's a sample of what it looks like to everyone else:

• We saw Coach Beamer...in person!  SS actually shook his hand.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our day.

• SS and I experienced it together.

Lowlights

• Sigh.  We lost.

• We ended up sitting with Clemson fans.  There was a handful of us in our section (including the entire row behind us), but we were truly outnumbered in our section.  Honestly, I think Hokie fans were outnumbered in the stadium altogether.

•  I found the Clemson fans very rude.  I didn't hear Hokies booing the Clemson team as they ran onto the field (but again, there weren't a whole lot of us in our section).  I didn't see Hokie fans flipping the bird to the world.  Maybe I'm not the right kind of football fan, but I find negative cheering and booing to be pretty classless.  That being said, I WILL boo the ref if I disagree with a call, but I let it go.  I don't keep booing 3 plays later.  Truth being told, it could be all the fans I found rude, but again, we sat with Clemson, so they're who I saw.

• Good gravy it was loud...I think I'm getting old.

• If I had to hear the following one more time...I swear, I was going to stab myself in the ear with a q-tip.  We get it!  You can spell!  Get another cheer!

• The clincher for me was SS having to break up a fight between the drunk Clemson fan in front of us and the redneck Hokie fan behind us.  Cheer for your team, don't cheer for ours, fine.  However, when you get into a screaming match with me (and my husband) stuck in the middle and my husband has to get involved in order to keep the situation from escalating, there is a problem.  The nice Clemson mom sitting beside me and the nice older Hokie fan behind us stepped in too, but there is no reason to fight.  Fair being fair, the redneck Hokie apologized to me after the fight, but at that point I was done emotionally.  The fun was over.  I don't handle being stuck between two screaming men well.

Finally, some pictures from a great day...

Note:  No little children were pushed out of the way to get my face painted.

Look!  It's Coach Beamer!  Thirty second later we were sprinting across the street in order to meet him.

Our seats were fabulous!  Great choice, SS!

No Fear

One of my long term goals is to stop being afraid. 

As an obese woman, I was scared of everything.  Scared to ride in other people's cars for fear the seatbelt wouldn't fit.  Scared to walk into a room of strangers who were skinnier/prettier/more accomplished than me.  Scared to meet my students each fall because I knew one of them would call me fat (in their own innocent way).  Scared, scared, scared.  Because of these fears, I avoided doing a lot of things.  I avoided the theater because I didn't want to be squished into a seat that hurt my hips for 2 hours.  I LOVE the theater...musicals are my favorite.

The past 18 months have helped me begin to face those fears.  I still spend hours worrying that I won't fit in a seat (see our Disney trip).  I have changed so much in the last 18 months, but in my mind, I'm still the same size. 

Freshman year of college, I went to a football game.  I didn't like it.  For a multitude of reasons, some of which I could control, others I could not.  Therefore, I avoided football games for the rest of my college years.

Today, I face my fear of large crowds.  We're going to the Hokie game today.  My first since 1998.  I'm terrified and excited.  Crossing #9 off my list tonight!  Woohoo!

#27

#27 - Successfully navigate a corn maze.

Success is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Look!  A corn silo...literally!

Last year when SS and I went to the corn maze, I stepped in and promptly got lost.  Yesterday, we went back.  I found 5 check points all by myself! 

Sure, they were in the "easy/beginner" maze and I got lost before finishing the maze, but I improved!

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, I'm officially lost.  Sigh.

Is it this way?

Or maybe it was this way...

Luckily, I had SS to navigate and get us out of that field.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon.  Even though I didn't get to play on this:

#22

#22 - Try something I've never done before

As I said previously, one of SS's new jobs is a manager at a local sports club.  He loves his job.  I love seeing him so happy there.  One of his duties is to organize the fall and spring rec systems.  He/the club has over 500 kids participating this fall.  SS is the one who helps organize teams, schedules games, etc, etc.  It's a ton of work, but he enjoys it.  Anyway... when he was assigning coaches and players he found himself one coach short.

Enter #22.  I am now a soccer coach (with SS's help, of course)!  We are coaching a team of 5 year olds.  Oh. My. Word.  It's hilarious.  First, SS has no idea how little kindergarteners truly are.  He kept pointing kids out at our first practice saying, "Hey, he looks like one of ours."  "No, honey,"  I'd reply.  "He's too old."  The following is a glimpse into our first game.

Kick Off - After running down the 3 main rules with our players (When the ref blows the whistle, STOP.  We're heading for *THAT* goal.  DON'T TOUCH THE BALL WITH YOUR HANDS!), we triumphantly take the field.  On the wrong side.  SS, who we've decided will be the coach on the field with the kids, gets our team to the correct side and the ref blows the whistle.  Our team just stands there until SS tells them several times to kick the ball.

Meanwhile, on the sideline, I'm in charge of the players not on the field.  It sounds a lot like this:
"When do we get to play?"
"Why can't we all play?"
"Can I go get a drink from my mom?"
"Do I hafta wear these things on my legs?"
"Tim!  Get off the field, we have to stay behind that blue line!"

Okay...that last one was me.  This is all BEFORE kick off!  I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into by agreeing to this.

(04:30) Goal #2 by opposing team.  The whining commences.  "When are we going to kick it in the goal?"

(05:00) I finally get SS's attention and signal that we need to switch players.  Luckily, we have enough players to do a complete line change.  Everyone on the sideline goes in, everyone on the field comes out.  High fives to everyone coming out.

(05:15) It begins again:
"When do we get to play?"
"Why can't we all play?"
"Can I go get a drink from my mom?"
"Do I hafta wear these things on my legs?"

"Cindy!  Get off the field, we have to stay behind that blue line!"

(05:30)  SS continues herding the cats on the field...with limited success.

(6:30) After returning from getting a drink (note to self: tell kids to bring water bottles with them to our sideline next week), everyone seems to be settling.

(06:45)  There is a tiny body hugging me.  Okay.  No big deal.  I'm a teacher.  My personal space is constantly invaded.

(12:00)  Quarter!  We do another line change.  Everyone on the sideline goes in, everyone on the field comes out.  High fives to everyone coming off the field.

(13:00)  We've earned a kick in!  Hooray!  SS places the ball down, chooses a player to kick the ball, the ref blows the whistle, and our player stands there.  "Kick it!  Kick it!" SS is saying.

(13:15)  We kick the ball!

(14:00) Decide we have THE MOST polite soccer team on Earth.  They will not go in and try to take the ball from an opposing player.  Instead, we run beside them hoping to get a foot on it at some point.

(15:00) Goal #3 by the other team.  Sigh.

(17:00) LINE CHANGE!  High fives to everyone coming off the field.

(17:45)  The Hugger is back.  Fabulous.  Wait...now the hugger is squeezing my forearm.  Hmm, interesting.  It's like a massage, but not.

(19:00)  Goal #4 by the other team.

(19:45)  I turn around and the youngest player on our team is on the ground with her shin guards off.  WHAT!?  Luckily, her dad shows up and helps her get them back on correctly so that they're not chafing her.

(22:00) The hugger is now squeezing my upper arm flab.  Oh dear.


(24:00)  Half!  Thank heavens.  Wait.  The other team has water and orange slices.  Crap!  We have nothing.  Five year olds are all about equality.  I'm trying to keep them from seeing the orange slices, but that's a futile effort.  (Note to self: Email parents about setting up a snack schedule.)


(24:01)  Kick Off!  Now the sounds from the sidelines have changed.
"Can I go sit with my Mom?"
"Are we done yet?"
"I'm tired!"
"I don't want to go back in."


(26:00) Goal #5 by the other team.

(27:00) The Hugger informs me that "if we were playing golf, we'd winning."  He's got a point, there.

(29:00)  Struggle to find enough players to switch with people on the field.  Begin asking if anyone wants to go back in...3 say yes, 2 moan "noooooo."

(31:00)  Wait!  We have the ball!  We're heading for the goal!  Go! Go! We're running by the goal...NO!  Stop!  Turn around!  Shoot!  Sigh.

(35:00) GOOOOOOOOOAL!  Several on the sideline cheer...most are more interested in picking grass blades.  The Hugger is talking chess with another player.


The rest of the game was pretty much the same.  We never scored again.  The kids seemed to have fun, though.  That's the most important part.  Aside from the Hugger's post-game meltdown when they didn't get cookies (Note to self: Don't forget that email!) everyone left smiling.

Even SS and I.

#26

#26 - Attend a festival (German American, Greek, Polish, WHATEVER) or fair (county or otherwise)


SS and I had a lovely afternoon at the Greek festival. 

We came.

We saw.

We ate.  (No, I didn't eat all that.)

All in all, it was a good time.  We generally go Friday evenings when it's cooler, but Saturday afternoon wasn't too bad.  I think there is an Indian Festival sometime in the fall too.  I think that would be fun to try.  #26 is the list item that keeps on giving.

32 Before 32

Ok...without further ado here it is my 32 before 32 list.  I'm hoping to get more done on this one than last year's list.  I'm going to attempt to capture all these items with pictures...but we'll see how long my memory lasts.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd go! 

1. Run a mile. 
2. Start and successfully complete the Couch to 5k program (without dying)
3.  Host a dinner party 
4. Get an actual bicycle (no more exercise bike) and take rides with SS 
5. Take a train ride with my husband. 
6. Purchase, install, and hang curtains in every room of the house. 
7. Go hiking 
8. Camp…my version of camping, you know, in a cabin with heat/air conditioning 
9. Attend my second Virginia Tech Hokie football game (went to 1 my freshman year and never went back) (12/3/11 - A memorable experience!)
10. Organize the office…not just piles of junk (12/29/11 - I can't claim credit for this one.  SS was a huge shredding machine and cleaned out a lot of the office.  Now to keep it clean.)
11. Begin decluttering the house. (27 fling boogie anyone?) (1/14/12 - Packed up all the baby stuff and have a huge pile to go to charity.)
12. Cook at home 5 days a week for a month 
13. Try 2 new recipes per week, for a month 
14. Play soccer with my husband 
15. Take a cooking class 
16. Try new cuisines:  still interested in Thai…Japanese skeers me 
17. Visit the Biltmore
18.  Participate in “team jersey” day at work – finally! (10/27/11 - Woohoo!)
19. Wear SS’s clothes like “normal” girls do (12/31/11 - All my jeans were in the wash, so I grabbed a pair of SS's, which are now too big.  I've missed my window!  Luckily, I still have all his Hokie t-shirts to steal .... er, wear.)
20.  Purchase new shower curtain and complete the “I Love Lucy” bathroom 
21. Visit a new and exciting place
22. Try something I’ve never done before (9/10/11 - Coach soccer)
23. Purchase actual running shoes in order to complete #2. (11/25/11 - BIG thanks to my in-laws.  I LOVE my Nike Moto 8s.)
24. Try Mellow Mushroom. (9/6/11 - Verdict: Meh.  Expensive and greasy.  Pizza isn't really my thing anymore.) 
25. Make Buckeye Bars and give them away (9/15/11 - I gave all but 2 away.  They were good, but my mom's buckeyes are better.)
26. Attend a festival (German American, Greek, Polish, WHATEVER) or fair (county or otherwise) (9/10/11 - Opa!)
27. Successfully navigate a corn maze (10/1/11 - Well, sort of!)
28. Do 3 kinds things for others for no reason (10/1/11 - started "You've been boo'd" at work, 11/5/11 - baked 3 batches of cookies and gave to friends,...
29. Get rid of all my pre-op and other clothes that no longer fit (12/16/11 - Another load taken to friends and donated.  Soon, I'll be weeding them out again.
30. Do something fun for SS’s birthday
31. Create or purchase a piece of art for the house 
32. Reach my goal weight

Wish me luck!